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DOG BREEDS RECOGNIZED BY THE FCI

or the United Kennel Club.As its name implies, the dog’s primary function,

and one in which he has no peer, is the control andherding of cattle in both wide-open and confinedareas, and harsh conditions. Always alert, extremelyintelligent, watchful, courageous and trustworthy withan implicit devotion to duty, the ASTCD is an idealworking cattle dog.

In its native country, the breed is represented by theAustralian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog Club of NewSouth Wales.

Terra australis incognita – unknown land in thesouth Australia: The name is derived from the Latinterra australis incognita, meaning “unknown land inthe south.” Once believed to be a vast continent thatincluded Antarctica, Terra Australis Incognita was thelast uncharted area in the world.

The FCI (Fédération Cynologique Interna-tionale), the World Canine Organization, in-cludes 87 member countries and contract

partners (one member per country). Each issues itsown pedigrees and trains its own judges. The FCI en-sures that the pedigrees and judges are mutually rec-ognized by all FCI members.

Recognition of a breed by the FCI means that in al-most every European country, that breed can beawarded FCI championship prizes. In 2005, the FCIprovisionally recognized the:

AUSTRALIAN STUMPY TAIL CATTLE DOG

The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog is classifiedby the FCI in Group 1, Section 2: Cattle Dogs (exceptSwiss Cattle Dogs). In Australia, its country of origin,the breed is classified by the Australian National Ken-nel Council Ltd. in Group 5 (Working Dogs). It is rec-ognized by the New Zealand Kennel Club in Group5 (Working), and by The Canadian Kennel Club inGroup 7 (Herding). The Australian Stumpy Tail CattleDog is not recognized by the American Kennel Club

text and illustrations by RIA HÖRTERCourtesy AMBAJAYE KENNELS,

BERNADETTE MERCHANT,SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

The skull is broad and flat with a slight but definitestop. This is Aust. Ch. Ambajaye Kiss my Tail,

breeder/owner-handled by Bernadette Merchant Photo by Cabal

Although the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog shares its early history with the Australian Cattle Dog, it’s a breed in its own right and not a variety of the ACD. The

Stumpy Tail is held in high regard in Australia as an intelligent, tireless and silent worker.

AUSTRALIANSTUMPY TAIL CATTLE DOG

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It’s hard to imagine, but in 1606 – the year William Shakespearewrote King Lear and Rembrandt was born in The Netherlands –Australia was still uncharted land. Its discovery took place inphases. In 1606, crew members of theDutch vessel Duyfken disembarked onthe rough west coast, but did not stayashore. In 1770, Capt. James Cooklanded on the east coast at Botany Bay,but did not stay. It was 1788 before Eng-lishmen landed at Port Jackson (SydneyHarbour) to found a penal colony.

The continent was a British penalcolony until 1868; its first Common-wealth Parliament was opened in Mel-bourne by Prince George, Duke ofCornwall (later King George V of Eng-land), in 1901.

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL KENNEL COUNCIL

The first meeting to consider forminga national Australian kennel club washeld at the Royal Agricultural Societyshow grounds in Sydney on April 14,1949, during the Royal Easter Shows,but it wasn’t until a meeting in Sydneyon April 7, 1958, that the draft constitu-tion was put to the delegates from Can-

berra, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, NewSouth Wales and South Australia.

A number of committees work under the Australian NationalKennel Council Ltd. – for example, the National Agility Commit-tee, National Sledding Committee and National Herding Commit-tee – but the ANKC is not involved in organizing shows and doesnot keep stud books. The various dog societies in the states and ter-ritories are responsible for these two important functions.

The ANKC is a member of the Fédération Cynologique Interna-tionale (FCI). More information about the ANKC and breed-reg-istration numbers can be found at ankc.org.au.

FIRST DOG SHOW

The first dog show was organized in 1862 at Hobart, on the is-land of Tasmania, by the Society for the Improvement in the Breedsof Dogs. The entry of 91 included setters, pointers, spaniels, Grey-hounds, Beagles, Bulldogs, terriers, Newfoundland Dogs, Bull Ter-riers and Poodles. The three judges at this show, Mr. Elwin, Mr.Eddington and Mr. Ridge, were exhibitors as well. The local paper,the Hobart Mercury, reported that, “Mr. Elwin as well as Mr. Ridgewent home with several first prizes” (!).

The first show on Australia’s mainland was in Melbourne, inApril 1864, organized by the Acclimatisation Society, which wasnormally occupied with importing European and British birds andplants. This Melbourne show attracted 381 dogs. The SydneyMorning Herald wrote, “There were nearly 400 exhibits – a reallygood number; also, that the prizes were much higher than thosegiven now, £2 being first prize in all cases, and second prize beinga certificate of merit.”

Today, the largest dog show in Australia is the Royal MelbourneChampionship Dog Show with over200 breeds and more than 4,000 dogscompeting. Judges are usually invitedfrom abroad; in 2014, judges fromSlovenia, Finland, Portugal, Germanyand the Philippines formed an excep-tional judging panel. You can find moreinformation at rasv.com.au.

Australia is interesting from a dogfancier’s point of view, not only be-cause it has several native breeds, butbecause one of its native dogs, theDingo, helped create two breeds: theAustralian Cattle Dog and the Aus-tralian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog.

SMITHFIELDS

The early history of the AustralianStumpy Tail Cattle Dog is similar tothat of the Australian Cattle Dog. Set-tlers emigrating to Australia took theirstock with them, along with the dogsthat worked the stock. Most of theirdogs were so-called Smithfields orSmithfield Curs, named for the Smith-

DOG BREEDS RECOGNIZED BY THE FCI

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British Sheepdogs in Sydenham Edwards’ Cynographia Britannica,circa 1800

Study of a Drover’s Dogfrom Animals from the Sketchbook of Harrison Weir,

published in 1858

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field Meat Market in London, where the dogs guarded pigs, chick-ens, ponies, sheep and cattle. These dogs were described as heavy,black, flop-eared and bobtailed with some white around the neck.Before they arrived at the meat markets, they herded and drove

livestock over great distances – hence their name, drover’s dog ordrover’s cur.

In his book Sheep and Cattle Driving Dog Breeds Around theWorld (2008), Georg Enzlin stated, “The lack of tails with workingdogs dates back from the time cattle drivers (drovers) in GreatBritain were exempt from taxation if their working dogs haddocked tails. This custom was abolished in 1796, as many dogkeepers had the tails of their dogs docked to avoid taxes.”

It is said that the Smithfields carried the gene for taillessness.Due to selective breeding of bobtail to bobtail, this characteristicis now fixed in the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog.

In her book Herding Dogs (1987), Irish Combe described theSmithfields as, “a specially bredstrain of both smooth- and shaggy-coated dogs, belonging to a band ofdrovers licensed and employed bythe famous fatstock show and mar-ket which existed for a long time onwhat was then the edge of the me-tropolis, on an area of level pastureoriginally known as Smooth Fields.In 1860, the old market was rebuilt and renamed Smithfield, thena further extension in 1866 soon earned it a very high reputationas a first-class fatstock show and market.”

SILENT WORKER

At first the settlers used theirSmithfields, but the dogs werehard biters and barked toomuch, and had trouble with theAustralian climate. The cross-ing of Smithfields, Dingoes andblue merle smooth Collies toproduce a silent worker was thestart of both the Australian Cat-tle Dog and the Stumpy TailCattle Dog. The main differencebetween the Cattle Dog and theStumpy Tail is... the Kelpie. Un-like the Australian Cattle Dog,the Australian Stumpy Tail Cat-tle Dog has no Kelpie blood,which means he lacks the black-

and-tan gene. Any tan in a Stumpy Tail indicates an Australian Cat-tle Dog or Kelpie somewhere in the pedigree.

TIMMINS BITERS AND HALL’S HEELERS

The first attempt to breed a silent cattle dog that didn’t bite ashard as the Smithfield was made by a cattle drover named John(Jack) Timmins (1816-1911), who crossed a Smithfield with aDingo. The results were red bobtailed dogs known as TimminsBiters. They were indeed silent workers, but proved to be ruthlessbiters and couldn’t be trusted with calves.

In 1840, Thomas Hall of Muswelbrook – one of the newlandowners in New South Wales – imported a couple of bluesmooth Highland collies. In A General History of Quadrupeds(1811) Thomas Bewick described the early collie as, “A trusty anduseful servant to the farmer and grazier. In the north of England [acur] and the shepherd’s dog are called ‘coally dogs.’”

Hall’s next step was to cross the progeny of these collies with aDingo. Hall’s collies were described as blue merle and resembledthe old Border Collie and working Bearded Collie. The results ofHall’s crossings were blue or red merle puppies, first known asHall’s Heelers and later as Merlins or Blue Heelers.

After Hall’s death in 1870, his Heelers dispersed over Queens-land and New South Wales. By the 1890s, Halls Heelers were beingexhibited at shows – for example, the one organized by the Na-

tional Agricultural and IndustrialAssociation.

In her book A Dog Called Blue(2003), Noreen R. Clark makes thecase – as did dog writers beforeand after her – that both theStumpy Tail Cattle Dog and theAustralian Cattle Dog descendedfrom the same stock.

DEVELOPMENT SCHEME

The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog was recognized by the Royal Agri-cultural Society Kennel Council (RASKC) in 1845. By the early

1960s, the breed was on theverge of extinction, but its sur-vival was guaranteed when theANKC opened a Develop-ment Register grading schemein October 1988, to ensure thatAustralia’s oldest developedWorking Dog breed wouldlive on. The ANKC stated:“The Australian National Ken-nel Council decided to intro-duce an ongoing programmeto ensure the preservation ofthe Stumpy-Tail Cattle Dog,the rarest of our recognizedAustralian breeds.”

To avoid registration of un-typical Stumpy Tails, the

DOG BREEDS RECOGNIZED BY THE FCI

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Curdogge

Cur: From the Middle English word “curdogge,” which perhapsderived from the Old Norse word kurr, “grumbling.” Accordingto Thomas Bewick (1790), “The Cur Dog is a trusty and useful ser-vant to the farmer and grazier.... They are chiefly employed in driv-ing cattle....”

The “smooth- and shaggy-coated dogs” had severalnames, each referring to a different type – for example, Eng-lish Smithfield, Colonial Smithfield and Tasmanian Smith-field. The Smithfield name persisted for a long time and tothis day in Australia, the breed is still affectionately knownas “the Smithfield.” As recently as the 1950s, a breeder in Tas-mania was exhibiting his Stumpy Tails as Smithfields.

The movement of the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog is free, supple andtireless. A fine example of the breed: Aust. Ch. Ambajaye Heads for Tails

Photo by Beljekali

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ANKC set up a grading system with a panel of three judges. In theearlier days of the system, there were three categories: A (of excel-lent breed type), B (could also be of good breed type but lackingsome qualities), and C (not of good breed type – possibly tan mark-ings). From October, 2000, only dogs of excellent breed type werepermitted into the grading scheme.

The redevelopment scheme closed in 2007 when the establish-ment of a viable gene pool over the preceding 20 years had madethe infusion of graded (unregistered) dogs no longer necessary.

In the past, the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog had beenknown as Smithfield, Smithfield Heeler and Stumpy. In 1963, theANKC adopted Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog as the official name; in2001 it was changed to Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog.

A BREED IN ITS OWN RIGHT

Although the Stumpy Tail shares its early history with the Aus-tralian Cattle Dog, it’s a breed in its own right and certainly not avariety of the Australian Cattle Dog.

Today, the breed is a companion dog, show dog and sportingdog, but has retained the qualities of the drovers’ dogs from thepast. The Stumpy Tail is brave, loyal, strong and highly intelligent.The breed can live up to 15 years.

The Stumpy Tail is a square dog, leggier than the Australian Cat-tle Dog and has a finer and more wedge-shaped head, with ears seton higher. In general, he’s racier than the ACD, with moderate an-gulation, and tends to amble at slow gaits. (The ACD standard callsfor that breed to be well-angulated.)

Relatively uncommon in the show ring, the breed is held in highregard in Australia as a tireless and silent worker. Managing cattleon the vast farms would have been impossible without theircourage and dedication.

They work the same way as the Australian Cattle Dog: herdingcattle by nipping at the heels with a bite that is both low and silent.Obedience training is a must as his intelligence needs harnessing.

Bernadette Merchant of the Ambajaye Kennel in New SouthWales, Australia, is a well-known breeder of Stumpy Tails. Herprefix was registered in 1985.

BREED STANDARD (FCI)

The Australian Stumpy Tail CattleDog is, “a well-proportioned workingdog, rather square in profile with a hard-bitten, rugged appearance.” He pos-sesses “a natural aptitude in the workingand control of cattle” and is “ever alert,watchful and obedient though suspi-cious of strangers.” The skull is broadand flat, with a slight but definite stop.The oval shaped eyes are dark brown.His ears are moderately small, prickedand almost pointed. They are “set onhigh yet well apart.”

This is a true working dog, showing aneck “of exceptional strength”; well-boned and muscular forelegs; a body

with deep and muscu-lar loins and a deepand moderately broadchest. The breed has“broad, powerful andmuscular” hindquar-ters with well-devel-oped thighs. The outercoat is moderatelyshort, straight, dense“and of medium hardtexture.... The coataround the neck islonger, forming [a]mild ruff.”

The colors of theStumpy Tail are blueor red speckle. Theblue may be mottledand may have blackmarkings; the redspeckle should have agood even speckle allover, including the un-dercoat. Blues shouldnot have any appear-ance of red and redsshould not have any

appearance of blue. Tan markings are not permitted under any cir-cumstances. A cream or white undercoat is also a serious fault.

Movement is free, supple and tireless. A Stumpy Tail is a ver-satile dog; “capability of quick and sudden movement is essen-tial.” Serious faults include cow or bow hocks, loaded or slackshoulders, weakness at elbows, pasterns or feet, and a straightshoulder placement.

Height at the withers is 18 to 20 inches (46 to 51 centimeters)for males, and 17 to 19 inches (43 to 48 centimeters) for females.

Stumpy Tail Cattle Dogs can competein agility trials, obedience, flyball,tracking and herding events. Instinctsand trainability can be measured at non-competitive herding tests.

We have tried to find the names of allphotographers. Unfortunately, we donot always succeed. Please send a mes-sage to the author if you think you arethe owner of a copyright.

Ria Hörter is a dog writer from TheNetherlands. She is the contributing ed-itor of various Dutch dog magazinesand works for the Dutch Kennel Club.She was nominated twice in the annualDog Writers Association of Americawriting competition for her articles inDogs in Canada.

DOG BREEDS RECOGNIZED BY THE FCI

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The colors of the Stumpy Tail are blue or red. The blue may be mottled and may have black markings.

Photo: Wendy Hodges, Wikipedia

‘Jack’ – A Smithfield Type of DogPictured in Sydney, 1898

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